Marine and land plastic waste litter have become a major global environmental issue because of its severe detrimental impact on the environment and wildlife. According to one study, approximate 13 million tons of plastic leaks into the ocean every year. This plastic pollution in the ocean causes huge deaths of marine animals. Plastic straws are one of the major pollutants. According to a 2018 Ocean Conservancy Report of the 10 common types of trash found on beaches globally, the plastic straws were number 7 in the list. Approximately, 8.5 billion straws are discarded annually. In the United States of America alone, 500 million plastic straws are discarded every day.
To protect the environment and wildlife from plastic pollution, many types of plastic items are being banned in different countries. To date, the United Nations, European Union, several countries (ex; United Kingdom), U.S. states (ex: California) and cities (ex. Seattle) have or plan to ban plastic straws. Undoubtedly, the trend will continue to grow. Consumers of all ages have joined the movement by doing their part by turning down plastic straws and finding solutions to practice more sustainable behavior.Moreover, the present invention's the integrated spout design reduces the pieces of cup lid packaging from three (lid/straw/straw wrapping) to one (lid) thereby eliminating two common components of packaging waste and potential litter.
Thus, in order to reduce single-use plastic waste and litter from degrading the environment and harming wildlife, a need is appreciated to find alternatives to straw use.